"If I told you about a team that had lost 10 of its last 12 bowl games, had dropped nine of its last 10 to USC, had led the nation only in disappointment, you'd figure that team would be halfway down the Mountain West standings."

Teams halfway down the Mountain West standings aren't really making bowl games. And most teams who have played 10 games against USC recently would be happy to have won one. As for "led the nation in disappointment," I'm not sure who I'd think of, but I wouldn't think Notre Dame. Most people are delighted about their struggles.

Notre Dame has won 86 games since the turn of this century. Oregon has won 111 games since then. TCU has won 119. Boise State has won 136. Do they have their own TV deals? Do they get to be the only school that sits with the BCS conference commissioners, deciding how a playoff is going to work?

Like any of those "wins" things has to do with having their own NBC TV deal, or importance with the BCS... it is because of their history and their alumni connections. As long as that is there, and there are no scandals at Notre Dame, NBC is going to enjoy fairly decent ratings showing ND games, and it is worth the contract.

dletter:Like any of those "wins" things has to do with having their own NBC TV deal, or importance with the BCS... it is because of their history and their alumni connections. As long as that is there, and there are no scandals at Notre Dame, NBC is going to enjoy fairly decent ratings showing ND games, and it is worth the contract.

It's pretty much Rick Reilly - guy who doesn't even follow the sports he's covering, then wonders why things are the way they are.

If college football won't put its foot down and force Notre Dame to join a conference -- as every other sport at Notre Dame has -- then the least it can do is stop paying it a bowl bonus of $1.3 million when it DOESN'T go to a bowl game. That's right: Notre Dame gets a $1.3 million bowl bonus simply for dressing up the stupid leprechaun.

"If I told you about a team that had lost 10 of its last 12 bowl games, had dropped nine of its last 10 to USC, had led the nation only in disappointment, you'd figure that team would be halfway down the Mountain West standings."

Notre Dame has won 86 games since the turn of this century. Oregon has won 111 games since then. TCU has won 119. Boise State has won 136.

Why did the author have to mention Boise State's win in comparison to Notre Dame's? Now we are going to be side tracked into a discussion on who plays the harder schedule and who's schedule means more.

ongbok:Notre Dame has won 86 games since the turn of this century. Oregon has won 111 games since then. TCU has won 119. Boise State has won 136.

Why did the author have to mention Boise State's win in comparison to Notre Dame's? Now we are going to be side tracked into a discussion on who plays the harder schedule and who's schedule means more.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is the case of a bandwagon sportswriter eating a shiat sandwich.

He sounds bitter that ND has a national broadcasting contract, even though they aren't a competitor every year. In a sports world now that prides itself on parity and roots for the underdog whenever possible, whatever!

I never went to ND, never played football, but I watched games every Saturday with my grandpa. I still watch and root because I always have. Would I like to see them do better? Of course, but that isn't happening anytime soon. It's hard to recruit a college player when you are located in a cold climate and have a culture surrounded in religion and uptight coeds when one can go to USC or U of Florida and fark on the beach.

Or maybe he's mad because you know where to tune in to find ND instead of looking for something specific on the conglomerate channels of ESPNU, Fox Sports, or CBSSports and browsing 100 channels (10 of which are showing the same games).

ongbok:Notre Dame has won 86 games since the turn of this century. Oregon has won 111 games since then. TCU has won 119. Boise State has won 136.

Why did the author have to mention Boise State's win in comparison to Notre Dame's? Now we are going to be side tracked into a discussion on who plays the harder schedule and who's schedule means more.

I noticed that comments have been disabled for that article. It's probably for the best - he'd be roasted.

Replace "Notre Dame" with "Penn State" - does it make the article more relevant? PSU has been hyped up for decades, but with some justification, and look what it bought them. I'll take the sometimes head-scratching placements on TV and bowl for the Irish any day.

//Go Irish!/not that I'm terribly hopeful///but at least they don't have the colossal problems that PSU has

raptusregaliter:Replace "Notre Dame" with "Penn State" - does it make the article more relevant? PSU has been hyped up for decades, but with some justification, and look what it bought them. I'll take the sometimes head-scratching placements on TV and bowl for the Irish any day.

Rent Party:ongbok: Notre Dame has won 86 games since the turn of this century. Oregon has won 111 games since then. TCU has won 119. Boise State has won 136.

Why did the author have to mention Boise State's win in comparison to Notre Dame's? Now we are going to be side tracked into a discussion on who plays the harder schedule and who's schedule means more.

Boise State is 8-4 in it's last 12 bowl games. Notre Dame is 2-10.

I'd say it's a pretty relevant topic.

If it was a discussion strictly on whether or not Notre Dame has become irrelevant in terms of being a elite team or National Championship talks I would agree with you, and I will in that since they have become irrelevant. But he is bringing up T.V deals and using their record to criticize their T.V deal, and it isn't relevant to any discussion regarding T.V deals.

Having a big T.V deal isn't a reward for being a good team. Having a big T.V deal is a reward for consistently being able to deliver the big ratings numbers. Which Notre Dame does and apparently NBC is so happy with the numbers that they don't feel the need to go out and replace them.

Remember folks, when it comes to T.V the executives don't care about how good the product is, all they care about is the C.R.E.A.M.

Notre Dame has the hardest schedule in the country. They play in Ireland, Oklahoma, Boston, LA, Chicago and Michigan. Who else does that? Every game they play is against a team that can beat them. Every SEC team plays at least 3 teams that have zero chance of beating them every year.

1) They actually care about academics. You need to be smart to get into ND. It's not like the SEC where their lineman are one IQ point away from bagging groceries their entire lives.

2) Every other school is on TV. Exposure is equal.

1) is always used, but never shown to be tougher than, say, Michigan or Stanford. I would also say that having equal exposure is not "going against it". It is more that they just don't have the ENORMOUS recruiting tool in their favor any more.

ND is a middle of the pack football program. If it was any other two letters besides "ND" it would never sniff the top 25 and would maybe be invited to the MotorCity bowl. Yeah, I understand they get their TV deal and bowl invites because their Alums travel well and tune in, but it is long past time to stop ranking them until they can win, oh I don't know, three games in a row.

As for the shiat about "hardest schedule" What a bunch of crap. In 2011 they played the following powerhouses

Wake ForestMarylandNavyAirforcePurdue

They were only close games because ND SUCKS Not because these teams are so awesome.

Cup Check:t's hard to recruit a college player when you are located in a cold climate and have a culture surrounded in religion and uptight coeds when one can go to USC or U of Florida and fark on the beach.

notre dame has the number 5 recruiting class in the nation for 2013 according to rivals, and an average recruiting class rank of 11 going back to 2006. i would kill to have that sort of recruiting problem at my college program of choice.

1) They actually care about academics. You need to be smart to get into ND. It's not like the SEC where their lineman are one IQ point away from bagging groceries their entire lives.

2) Every other school is on TV. Exposure is equal.

1) is always used, but never shown to be tougher than, say, Michigan or Stanford. I would also say that having equal exposure is not "going against it". It is more that they just don't have the ENORMOUS recruiting tool in their favor any more.

ND is a middle of the pack football program. If it was any other two letters besides "ND" it would never sniff the top 25 and would maybe be invited to the MotorCity bowl. Yeah, I understand they get their TV deal and bowl invites because their Alums travel well and tune in, but it is long past time to stop ranking them until they can win, oh I don't know, three games in a row.

As for the shiat about "hardest schedule" What a bunch of crap. In 2011 they played the following powerhouses

Wake ForestMarylandNavyAirforcePurdue

They were only close games because ND SUCKS Not because these teams are so awesome.

They have the hardest schedule in the country this year, and have never played an FCS school. Who else can say that? I agree they aren't good, but they play quality every week.

Notre Dame has been over-ranked for the past five years, but you won't hear me complain about it (other than the fact that its generally unfair) because it helps the Big Ten schedules as they have to play a ranked shiatty team rather than a good unranked team.

But if ND isn't hyped all to hell and shown on TV every week, how will we be able to bathe in the tears of ND fans after their overrated team gets the shiat kicked out of them by real teams like Michigan, OK, and USC?

A world where I can't see ND publicly humiliated almost every week isn't a world I want to live in.

The Notre Dame situation is a shining example of how NOTHING matters in college sports except money. Not winning, not getting the best product on the field or on the screen, nothing matters but money.

And it turns out that for the past 40 years or so a network that signs a broadcast deal with Notre Dame can get a lot of viewers (fat old nostalgia-filled viewers who pass out on the couch after nursing their Old Milwaukee to halftime) and therefore make a lot of money.

There was a chance, when the BCS was first established, that they could have kicked ND to the curb, but the money was still too good, and the BOWLS told the conferences and the NCAA how it was going to work, not the other way around. That's why ND as an independent got such a sweet deal - nobody wanted to miss out on the cash bonanza of ND in a bowl game (even if they lose).

Even if ND gets back to winning, time will change the math on that equation - when a network will decide that it makes more sense to sign up a conference that can guarantee a key matchup or high profile game almost every weekend the way Notre Dame all by itself used to be able to.

So don't biatch about Notre Dame - they got a deal that anyone else would have wanted if they could get it. You should biatch about college football in general and how money is more important than football, and the NCAA and and the colleges have turned the keys to the kingdom over to the bowls.

cefm:The Notre Dame situation is a shining example of how NOTHING matters in college sports except money. Not winning, not getting the best product on the field or on the screen, nothing matters but money.

And it turns out that for the past 40 years or so a network that signs a broadcast deal with Notre Dame can get a lot of viewers (fat old nostalgia-filled viewers who pass out on the couch after nursing their Old Milwaukee to halftime) and therefore make a lot of money.

There was a chance, when the BCS was first established, that they could have kicked ND to the curb, but the money was still too good, and the BOWLS told the conferences and the NCAA how it was going to work, not the other way around. That's why ND as an independent got such a sweet deal - nobody wanted to miss out on the cash bonanza of ND in a bowl game (even if they lose).

Even if ND gets back to winning, time will change the math on that equation - when a network will decide that it makes more sense to sign up a conference that can guarantee a key matchup or high profile game almost every weekend the way Notre Dame all by itself used to be able to.

So don't biatch about Notre Dame - they got a deal that anyone else would have wanted if they could get it. You should biatch about college football in general and how money is more important than football, and the NCAA and and the colleges have turned the keys to the kingdom over to the bowls.

thomps:Munchausen's Proxy: As for the shiat about "hardest schedule" What a bunch of crap. In 2011 they played the following powerhouses

yeah according to sagarin they had the 26th toughest schedule at the end of last year, but for what it's worth, they do have a pre-season toughest schedule in the country this year by most accounts.

I don't see how. For the 2012 season they have Navy, Wake (6-7 last year), Purdue and BYU. Plus Pitt and BC Sure, these are all losable games for them, because Notre Dame does not have a good football program. They throw on the gold helmets and think they are owed a win. They used to win because they were able to recruit so well. Going to Notre Dame meant something special. Lots of exposure, being on TV, etc. Now, every school is on TV and exposure has allowed coaching to rise more in importance. I don't care so much about the TV contract, it is the constant forcing of them higher and higher into the rankings when they have not deserved it. Watch them when a losable game and they jump ten spots.

thomps:Cup Check: t's hard to recruit a college player when you are located in a cold climate and have a culture surrounded in religion and uptight coeds when one can go to USC or U of Florida and fark on the beach.

notre dame has the number 5 recruiting class in the nation for 2013 according to rivals, and an average recruiting class rank of 11 going back to 2006. i would kill to have that sort of recruiting problem at my college program of choice.

In ND's defense, their recruiting numbers and inflated because recruiting services make more money from the ND fans when they give good reviews and ratings to ND recruits. Have ND recruit you and your star ranking might go up by 1; if it doesn't, it probably will after you commit to them. Still, ND sucks.

As much as I dislike ND, the article was really poorly written and far too snarky. It's not ND's fault that they are popular, and there isn't a single other school that would say, "Please don't give us our own TV deal. We really aren't worth it."

Also, keep in mind that ND is covered by NBC, and so ESPN has a vested interest in marginalizing the team (which really does suck) so that the conferences it televises are given more attention. ESPN is quickly becoming the Fox News (or MSNBC if you are so inclined) of the sports world; pretending to give a "fair and balanced" dose of sports news while actually trying to slant the playing field in its favor.